public

Heavily Investigated

Something about the Redmont doesn't let go. Guests report doors swinging open on their own, bags shifting when no one's near them, and a phantom dog padding silently through the halls. On the ninth floor, a woman in white drifts without explanation. Up in the penthouse — once the private domain of owner Clifford Stiles — the cold spots arrive without warning and the feeling of being watched never quite leaves. And then there's Hank: people swear they've glimpsed his silhouette on the upper floors, still restless from the last night he ever spent alive.

Opened in 1925 and designed by architect G. Lloyd Preacher, the Redmont was Birmingham's tallest hotel and a genuine luxury landmark — private baths, water-cooled fans, the works. Businessman Clifford Stiles purchased it in 1946 and promptly claimed the top floor as a personal penthouse, pets and all. Then, around New Year's 1952, Hank Williams checked in — and never made it to his next show. The hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which the record notes with suitable gravity and the hallways note in their own way entirely.